Racks for holding bottles of wine have been used for centuries. They can be as simple as a frame with horizontal shelves spaced apart sufficiently to hold bottles lying on their sides. Dividers are generally used to keep the bottles from contacting one another, thus reducing breakage. The dividers tend to be rigid slats or other structures designed to fit into the frame. They often are permanently attached. The dividers typically are positioned to create a set of individual compartments, each sized to hold one wine bottle lying on its side. Further, each compartment is uniformly configured to extend straight backwards. Wine racks tend to be box-shaped with a flat back wall. The typical wine rack, whether for commercial use or residential use, is designed to fit flush with a straight wall or with another box-shaped wine rack. Residential wine racks tend to be more aesthetically pleasing to the eye with a polished steel construction or perhaps a varnished wood construction. Regardless, all are designed to fit along a straight wall.
More modern architectural building styles allow walls which are curved, either convexly or concavely. A curvilinear wall may be only a few feet long such as in an entryway. It may also be several feet long to create a more dramatic appearing room for entertaining purposes. As can be readily imagined, a conventional box-shaped wine rack with its straight back side when placed along a curvilinear wall looks very out of place. This is especially true for a very long wall with a pronounced curvature. Forming a wine rack with a curved back side would create a structure which is more aesthetically pleasing, but would leave a problem of how to redesign dividers or compartments for the wine bottles. The uniform configuration of wine compartments with their substantially parallel walls simply cannot neatly fit into a curved frame.
It is apparent that while designing a frame with curved back and front sides to conform to a curvilinear wall is feasible, more is needed. The time is ripe for a wine rack which can be positioned to set flush with a curvilinear wall and hold a plurality of wine bottles in an orderly manner. Necessarily, the wine rack's overall appearance must appear sturdy as well as attractive.
In accord with a need, I have developed a wine rack which is made to conform to a curvilinear wall. The wine rack holds a plurality of bottles, e.g. well over 1,000 bottles if desired. The wine rack of the invention is aesthetically pleasing as well as sturdy enough to hold the plurality of bottles in a manner where each individual bottle can be conveniently removed as needed. It can, if desired, have the inherent ability to inhibit and suppress the growth of microbes.